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The British Embassy in Ankara, in cooperation with the Office of Abdullah Gül, 11th President of Republic of Turkey, is looking for expressions of interest from senior people from government, business or academia in the Islamic world who would be interested in being a Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS) for a period of 3-6 months.

The Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS), as a Recognised Independent Centre of Oxford University, is dedicated to the promotion of those academic activities which encourage a more informed understanding of the culture and civilisation of Islam and contemporary Muslim societies.

OCIS aims to cultivate contacts with senior people or people with leadership potential to strengthen and encourage dialogue and cooperation between civilisations. For more information about the aims of OCIS please see below.

The OCIS aims are:

To establish a sustained programme that makes a real and lasting impact on the UK’s relationship with Islamic countries and Muslim societies around the world.

To promote academic dialogue and exchange focussed on contemporary Muslim societies in their global context.

To enrich Oxford’s intellectual life by bringing scholars and senior people from public life to participate in its academic programmes.

To encourage a multi-disciplinary and inclusive approach to academic work, drawing together scholars and opinion-formers from East and West.

These academic activities are multi-disciplinary in scope and global in outreach. The work of OCIS derives great benefit from the links it is developing with individuals and institutions in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Its Visiting Fellowships Programme plays a vital role in sustaining this inter-civilisation dialogue. Further information

Time Frame and Award Components

The award will cover a 3-6 month period of study at OCIS on/after Sept 2015. Each Award will provide for payment of:

A monthly stipend for UK travel and maintenance expenses sufficient for a single award recipient
A return airfare (economy class) between home country and UK
Allowance package (covering arrival allowance, research/thesis allowance, study travel grant, events travel top up and excess baggage allowance)

Only applications received online from the this address will be accepted.
Applications close on 31 December 2014 at midnight.

The eligibility criteria drawn up for the nominee profile is as follows:

The recipients of the award should be highly influential people who are well established in their fields. They should be people who would benefit from meeting people from other Islamic world countries, and who would welcome the opportunity to undertake independent study and research; develop contacts with relevant individuals; and discuss issues relating to the Islamic world - a broad field covering anything from Islamic finance and inter-faith issues to Islamic calligraphy and Sharia law, and many things in between. For OCIS an essential requirement is that award-holders should be engaged in study or research relevant to encouraging a better understanding of Muslim societies and the promotion of inter-civilisation dialogue and partnership.

Eligibility Criteria:

The nominees should meet the minimum Chevening criteria, which is to:

Be a Turkish citizen who will return to Turkey at the end of the period of the fellowship.

Have a postgraduate (PG) level qualification (or equivalent professional training or experience in a relevant area) at the time of application

Have a significant professional experience (5+ years); Currently employed and/or enrolled in a PhD programme, but not be at a UK/EU or USA university.

Not have received a financial benefit from the British Government in the last 5 years for a fellowship or scholarship.
Note: Employees, employees’ relatives of Her Majesty’s Government, the Association of Commonwealth Universities or the Office of Abdullah Gül or any of their wholly-owned subsidiaries can not apply to this scholarship